A
New Aesthetic for Materials
Exhibitors
Astrid Tolnov Larsen, Linda Nyvang, Lena Kramer Pedersen (VIA) Anders Klitgård Mølbæk (VIA) Mathias Kjær Winter (VIA)
Internal partners
Flemming Tvede Hansen, Else Skjold, Kirsten Reitan Andersen
External partners
See list below
Aesthetics are not static, as this exhibition’s projects show.
A New Aesthetic for Materials compiles the results of the research projects ‘Ready’ and ‘From Fiber to Form’, both of which study whether material-driven design can help power the green transition towards a more sustainable textile industry and crystallise new ways of perceiving design.
The Ready research project develops design strategies through experimenting with recycled biogenic fibres. The ‘From Fiber to Form’ PhD project studies how the inherent colours of discarded textiles shape the aesthetic of non-woven materials.
Both projects provide new knowledge about material-based design processes and business models. They challenge predominant ideas of perfection and give prominence to the irregularities and varieties of materials as industrial design resources.
The projects present a radical shift of perspective towards re-imagining processes, aesthetics and material flows. In so doing, the projects propose new strategies which stake out a course towards a more sustainable future for textiles, based essentially on local sourcing, longer service life and reduced environmental impact.
This lab-scale design trial of thermally bonded nonwoven material is produced from fibres generated through industrial mechanical recycling. The fibres include discontinued textile samples supplied by the Danish textile company Kvadrat, which are colour-sorted using a strategy developed during the PhD project From Fiber to Form, as well as end-of-life textiles sourced from the industrial laundry Textilia. Fibre blending and heat-pressing are carried out on lab-scale equipment.
Discontinued textile samples from the Danish textile company Kvadrat arranged in a colour wheel to explore how different colours can be sorted and directed. The wheel serves as a tool for developing a sorting strategy that embraces the design qualities of the coloured textiles and demonstrates how such a strategy can be applied in the manufacturing of commercial nonwoven design products.
READY: mechanical recycled materials, woven prototypes. Credit: Linda Nyvang
READY: bio-based materials, yarn samples. Credit: Linda Nyvang.
External partners
From Fiber to Form: Kvadrat, Kvadrat Really, Lifestyle and Design Cluster (LDC), Postdoc Cathryn Anneka Hall (Kolding School of Design)
READY: Poul-Erik Jørgensen (VIA), Anne Louise Bang(VIA), Malene Harsaae (VIA), VIA University College, Det Kongelige Akademi, Syddansk Universitet, Aalborg Universitet, Teknologisk Institut, Lifestyle & Design Cluster, Bestseller, Kvadrat, Nybo Workwear, Sontex Tekstil, Kjellerup Væveri, HAACK Recycling
